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Affidavit: Man posed as tutor in sex assault

A Grand Junction man was arrested on suspicion he sexually assaulted a teenage girl after he posed as a tutor endorsed by School District 51 in order to gain the trust of the girl’s parents.

Adam Clayton Ross, 27, 2549 Broadway, Unit B, was ordered held Thursday at the Mesa County Jail on $250,000 bond on suspicion of sexual assault on a child, sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, Internet luring of a child and enticement of a child.

Ross, a Colorado Mesa University student, is prohibited from having contact with children under age 18 and is restrained from visiting all properties associated with District 51.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Ross became the focus of an investigation after the 14-year-old girl’s mother lodged a report Oct. 30 with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department. The girl was enrolled earlier this year in an online schooling program offered through District 51. Ross showed up at the family’s home in September and told the girl’s parents he was assigned to be her tutor, the affidavit said.

Ross showed the girl’s parents a letter on District 51 letterhead saying he is a program tutor, the affidavit said. The parents said the letter looked legitimate, and Ross was allowed to start tutoring the girl at their home. The affidavit describes three different occasions in which Ross was allowed in the home.

“(Mother) stated she was uncomfortable with Mr. Ross because he frequently went outside to smoke and talked most of the time about unrelated topics with (girl) instead of school work,” the affidavit said.

Ross sometimes was in the home before either parent arrived home for the day, “but all the tutor sessions (parents) observed occurred in the living room without anything significantly inappropriate observed,” the affidavit said.

The girl’s father became suspicious Oct. 29 after finding a series of text messages and emails, indicating the two had struck up a relationship. The girl told investigators the relationship started when Ross first sent a message to her on MySpace.com, explaining he could be her tutor.

“(Girl) said Adam began flirting with her and he said he had hacked into her Internet accounts and was reading/altering her emails and messages,” the affidavit said.

By their second tutoring session, Ross was becoming more “touchy,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit said the girl became emotional when she recounted Ross had “forced himself on me.” Ross allegedly persuaded her to sneak out of the family’s home late one night. Ross allegedly sexually assaulted the girl in an abandoned trailer on C 1/2 Road.

The girl said Ross told her not to tell anyone about the incident, and Ross provided her a bottle of Brisk tea to drink.

“(Girl) said she drank only part of it because it tasted funny and she had memory problems for the next few days,” the affidavit said.

While admitting he tutored a girl, Ross denied ever representing himself in any official capacity and denied the sexual assault, the affidavit said.